Monday, September 10, 2012

Overcoming Veloxrotaphobia: The Fear of Roller Coasters

Last weekend, I went with my family to Six Flags Over Georgia. This was the first time I go to Six Flags and the first time I ever ride a roller coaster. When I arrived to Six Flags and saw a roller coaster for the first time in my life, I got horrified. I remember hearing about roller coasters that had loops, but I never imagined that they were real. As I entered the park, I was seeing roller coasters all over me. At every time interval, people started screaming like it was the end of their lives. My first thought was that I would never ride such roller coasters. Then, I saw a young boy asking his parents to allow him to ride a roller coaster. At that moment, I felt so weak that I couldn't find words to say. How can I be afraid of a game that a 10-year old boy is begging his parents to let him try? At last, I decided that I will ride the roller coasters just like everyone else did. So, I followed that boy and saw the scariest sight in my life. The ride he was heading to was called the Dare Devil Dive. The Dare Devil Dive started by going up on a 90 degrees angle. Then, it sharply curves down to a 90 degrees angle, and the coaster goes spinning and rotating at extreme speeds. As I bent my neck upward to look at the roller coaster's path, I nearly panicked. I knew it was too late since the belt has already been fastened. In an instant, the coaster started moving, and the worker told us to enjoy the ride. Is she insane? Who in the world will ever enjoy something as scary as this. I didn't have enough time to think. When the coaster started going up. I was lying on my back, and I can only see the clouds in front of me. I took a look from the side and found that I was so high. I knew that if anything wrong happened, I will certainly die. The first thought that came to my mind was to say a prayer. So, as the coaster reached the climax, I said the prayer, and immediately the coaster went down. From that moment, all I remember was that I saw the world spinning around me, saw the clouds under me, and felt the fierce wind ripping my face. All of the time, I was screaming at my highest pitch. Finally, the coaster arrived safely to the loading point. After it had stopped, the child next to me laughed and said "that was awesome!" I can't understand what was awesome about it. All I could think of was that I just rode the Dare Devil Dive and that it wasn't that bad. That day, I rode almost all of the roller coasters at the park. Every time I try a new roller coaster, I say to myself "I rode the Dare Devil Dive. This is nothing compared to it."